Forever Young
by Golden Tiger Eyes
Summary: The Doctor took her hands, grinning. "Ah, yes, of course," he replied, before pausing thoughtfully. He added in a serious tone, "Always. Until death set us apart." Rose smiled at him, brown eyes sparkling. "And when I die I suppose you'll go about looking for a replacement, then?" she asked teasingly. The Doctor frowned. When she died... [Slight AU]
1. Prologue

A/N: A small story. Dedicated to you. The prologue here is very brief - expect longer chapters in the future. There will be six parts, not including the Prologue and the Epilogue. Please enjoy !

* * *

Forever young, I want to be forever young

Do you really want to live forever, forever and ever?

Forever young, I want to be forever young

Do you really want to live forever? Forever young

* * *

Rose Tyler's house was silent.

The world outside was dark and deadly hot, the summer air thick and humid. Clouds covered up the stretching welkin, leaving no light but that which was given off by the flickering lamp post. Not that the Doctor minded the heat much. He had been many hot places, in his lifetime. Some places much hotter then earth...

But none of those places really mattered anymore.

The Doctor sat by Rose's bedside, watching her. Her breathing was slow, and heavy. Her eyes were closed gently, her lips parted ever so slightly. Her skin was creased and her hair tinted grey.. Most people would call her an old lady. They might say her beauty days had passed. But to the Doctor, she couldn't be more beautiful in the gentle lamplight. He had watched every wrinkle form on flawless skin, seen every soft blonde hair get softer while he stayed young. It filled with a deep kind of sadness that he couldn't quiet explain.

He had been with many women before, yes. But Rose was different. The Doctor had known that from the start. And seeing her grow old was something he would never escape; he was intent on staying with her to the end. Which, to his deep despair, was nearing quickly.

What would he do after she was gone? Travel again? Mourn her death? Travel back in time and watch it all again? It seemed so impossible to be without the spunky, blonde little girl... Woman. What had he done without her?

The doctor had been traveling for some time when he met Rose Tyler. Not just from place to place, but from time to time. He helped people, and then some. But when he met Rose... He had shared his taste for adventure with her. And when she decided it was her time to stop, he had stayed with her.

Everything was perfect... But Rose was different than the Doctor. Her lifespan was so much shorter then his... Eventually, their time together would end...

And now, sitting by her bedside and holding her feeble hand, the Doctor felt a twisting pain in his chest. An ache in his heart [or shall I say hearts] that was rarely felt by the happy man. He had seen many, many deaths, but wasn't prepared for this one...


	2. Part I

A/N: And here we have part one. ^-^ Thank you to those who followed/faved the prologue and/or wrote a review. Those are what drive me to keep going!

* * *

Let's dance in style, let's dance for a while

Heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies

Hoping for the best but expecting the worst

Are you gonna drop the bomb or not?

* * *

Part I

The doctor closed his eyes, sighing. They had been through so much... Even this house, this very house Rose would breathe her last breaths in, had been in their life for quite some time...

* * *

_Let's dance in style, let's dance for a while. __Heaven can wait we're only watching the skies_

_..._

_"Ah, and you must be Rose Tyler, I presume?"_

_"Yes, I am," Rose answer politely, quirking an eyebrow slightly at the old man in her doorway. She held the door open, but not enough to make the man feel obligated to come in._

_He was a large man, with tanned skin, a balding grey head and a shaggy grey beard. he had twinkling brown eyes and a bit of a pot-belly. He had a musky smell about him, and his whole aura in general sort of put Rose off._

_"I just wanted to come by and introduce myself," the man continued after a few silent moments. "Y'know, since we're neighbors and all now. My wife came by earlier to introduce herself... But, uh, I was busy at the time." He smiled widely, showing a few missing teeth, "So what made you decide to move here, Miss Rose?" The man's __pungent breath traveled the gap between them as he spoke._

_"Me and my partner are from London," Rose said softly, "We decided the city wasn't really for us, but we didn't want to move too far from my family. This is our first time buying a home, anyways, and the houses are just so much less expensive here." _

_"Ah," the man said, "Seems reasonable." He stayed silent for a moment, eyes nosily wandering further into the house. All there was in the building were a couple pieces of loose furniture and towers of labeled boxes against stark white walls. _

_"I guess you have a lot of unpacking to do," the man chuckled, "I'll leave ya to it. Me name's Bruce - Bruce Smith - by the way," he said, holding out his hand. They shook hands before Bruce turned, walked down the steps, and made his way home._

_Rose sighed heavily as she closed the door. Buying this new house has been so stressful. She and the Doctor hadn't had much money to begin with, but things were starting to come together. Rose was glad to have her own home, even though she would miss living with her mum._

_The Doctor was a history teacher now. It suited him. Occasionally he would point out mistakes in the history textbooks to her,__ and go on about them the rest of the day. Rose, of course, could care less, but it didn't matter. She pretended to listen to his rants anyways._

_Since her previous job had been blown to bits, Rose had gotten another one at a retail store in their current neighborhood. It wasn't exactly an ideal amount of pay, but it would do for the time being. _

_Rose walked into the living room, looking around and making her way to a pile of boxes. She might as well start unpacking, since the Doctor wasn't home yet..._

_And then there was the jingle of keys._

_Good old Doctor._

_Always perfect timing._

_The blonde hurried to the door, swinging it open before the doctor got a chance to unlock it. _

_"Welcome home," she said with a big grin._

_..._

Oh, he would do anything to see his Rose grin again like that. She always used to smile so much... And now he feared he would never see that smile again.

...

_"I see you've already put a marvelous dent in the task of unpacking," the doctor teased cheerfully as he noticed not a single box was opened yet. He walked in, closing the door behind him._

_"Hey!" Rose protested, "I'll have you know I just got home from work, thank you very much."_

_"Oh, I suppose that's a bit better then," the doctor grinned, wrapping his arm around the young blonde and squeezing her close__, kissing her cheek. "And how /was/ work? Warming up to it?" He pulled away slightly, studying her carefully with a smile. _

_"A little bit," Rose said honestly, starting to walk back into the living room. "If you see Mr. Smith you should offer him a breath mint," she laughed, starting to open a box._

_"Oh?" The Doctor said, raising his eyebrows and following her. "Another neighbor?"_

_"Yeah," Rose confirmed, tearing the box open and looking through it, "A rather stinky neighbor."_

_The Doctor opened a box as well and started to rummage through it. They were silent for a few moments, before the doctor began to say something else."Where should we put the TARDIS__? By the couch or by the love seat?" He asked in an almost teasing voice._

_"Oh no," Rose said, turning around to face him, "we are /not/ putting that huge ship in the living room." She scolded, unable to hide a small grin._

_"Well that's not much fun at all, is it?" The doctor said in a playful tone, "Why would we have a normal living room when we could have an extraordinary one?"_

_"Why don't we have an extraordinary backyard, instead?" Rose offered, laughing slightly, "I think the TARDIS would be perfectly happy out there, don't you?"_

_The doctor rolled his eyes, "Fine," he said through a grin. Not that it could really get his spirits down during the excitement of the unpacking. Yes, he would miss traveling. He loved the TARDIS, going to different places and times, meeting different people and helping them. But he loved Rose more. _

_And maybe he would come to like living in one place, eventually. After all, he had been traveling for so long. _

_"All we have for the living room is a couch and a love seat?" The doctor suddenly asked, glancing around the rather large room. "What are we going to do with all this space?"_

_"Mum says she'll give us her old tele once she gets a new one," Rose said dismissively, "Besides, I kinda like it like this," she said, looking around. "All big and roomy."_

_"I don't see how all of this space could be useful, though," The Doctor said skeptically. "Unless it were a ballroom or something of the sorts."_

_"A ballroom?" Rose queried, quirking an eyebrow._

_"Oh, please, Rose," The Doctor rolled his eyes with a grin, "Don't tell me you don't know what a ballroom is."_

_"Of course I know what a ballroom is," Rose defended, "But I thought you were suggesting that /we/ get a ballroom, to which I would laugh at the idea."_

_"Well I dare say I've done a few good dances in my time," The Doctor said, holding back a grin._

_"I know," Rose said teasingly, "We have danced before." The Doctor held out his hand._

_"Well maybe we should take advantage of this big empty ballroom while we can," he added._

_They had danced for who knows how long, enjoying each other's company after a long day apart. Not much unpacking was done, not that the couple had much anyways._

_Dancing was not uncommon for the two as days and weeks passed. The TARDIS got a place in the backyard, where the Doctor and Rose would sit out near it late at night, after the world was asleep. The Doctor would point to a star or a cluster and tell a story about it. Rose would keep silent and listen, and occasionally wonder what The Doctor would be doing right then if he had decided not to stay with her._

* * *

What made it come to that? He, the last Timelord, living the ordinary life of a human? The Doctor shook his head. What was he to so now? He knew perfectly well that when Rose was gone the life of a human would be... Dull.

How had Rose persuaded him to leave his old life? Well, she hadn't at all, really...

* * *

_Hoping for the best but expecting the worse... __Are you gunna drop the bomb or not?_

_..._

_Rose bit her lip slightly, watching the Doctor rush about the metal interior of the TARDIS, carrying tools and repairing this and that. She was 29 now. It had been so long. Before she met the Doctor, she would have imagined herself having a family and a degree and a good job by then... Not that she would trade any of her time with the Doctor for that, but it was about time she left the traveling behind. Rose couldn't do this forever. _

_She had thought about the problem for quite a while, and had made a decision. Now was the matter of telling the Doctor... But he had travelled with so many, as she had learned. She assumed he probably was used to people leaving by then. But then again, they had been in a relationship for awhile now. Would it be different?_

_"Doctor," she said, albeit anxiously. _

_He didn't seem to hear. Instead, he busied about, screwing this and that and mumbling under his breath. _

_"Doctor," Rose repeated. He didn't look up from his task, but he seemed to have heard her. _

_"Yeah?" He questioned absentmindedly, still working on a panel of the TARDIS._

_"Uhm," she paused, "Can we talk a minute?"_

_"Well we are talking, aren't we?" The Doctor stated, but he seemed to understand, putting down the tool he was holding and giving her his full attention. _

_"You know, it's been really fun traveling with you," Rose said, not looking to see the Doctor's expression whatever it might be, "But.. I'm almost thirty. /Thirty/. I think I need to stop. It was great, but, my mum isn't going to be around a lot longer, and I don't really have a /human/ life..." _

_"I see," Rose heard the Doctor say in a soft and defeated voice. "You don't want to travel with me anymore." _

_"There come's a time-"_

_"It's okay," The Doctor said, walking towards her, "You don't owe me an explanation. You are free to come and go as you please, but you are always welcome here." _

_Rose smiled, looking up. They watched each other for a while. Rose was relieved at how understanding the Doctor was being, but he seemed to be struggling with something. He had a thoughtful look on his face. _

_"Rose?" The Doctor asked, taking her hand, "Do you think I could come with you?"_

* * *

A/N: Please leave a review! Those are what inspire me to keep writing, and they mean so much to me.


End file.
